# How online booking works

> How online booking works in CoreHue for photographers: services, booking modes, your availability and the public booking page clients book from.

Source: https://help.corehue.co/docs/online-booking/how-online-booking-works/

Online booking gives clients a page where they can send you an inquiry, book a time and pay a deposit, or claim a mini session slot, all without a single email from you. You set it up once, and it keeps working while you're out shooting.

> **Limited on the Free plan**
You can publish 1 booking service on Free, 5 on Plus and as many as you like on Pro. See [How many services can I publish?](/docs/online-booking/published-service-limits)

## Where everything lives

Open **Bookings** in the sidebar. It holds five things:

| Page | What it's for |
| --- | --- |
| **Inquiries** | Requests from clients waiting on your reply. The badge counts the ones you haven't opened. |
| **Calendar** | Your booked sessions month by month, alongside your Google Calendar events if you connect it. |
| **All bookings** | Every booking, with a **+** to add one yourself. |
| **Services** | The things a client can book: price, length, location, paperwork and payment. |
| **Settings** | Four tabs: **Availability**, **Booking page**, **Emails** and **Integrations**. |

Most of your setup time goes into **Services**. After that, the rest is a few switches.

## Three ways a service can work

Every service runs in one of three modes. You pick it when you create the service, and it decides how much happens without you.

| Mode | What your client does | Best for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Inquiry** | Sends their details and what they're after | Weddings, commercial work, anything you quote |
| **Direct booking** | Picks a real time, signs, pays if you ask, and it's booked | Portraits, headshots, consultations |
| **Mini sessions** | Claims one short slot on a date you've set | Holiday minis, seasonal or pop-up days |

You can run all three at once. Plenty of wedding photographers take weddings as inquiries, engagement shoots as direct bookings and autumn portraits as mini sessions. If you're not sure which to use, read [Inquiry, direct booking or mini session?](/docs/online-booking/choosing-a-booking-mode)

## Setting up booking, start to finish

1. Go to **Bookings → Services**, choose **Add service**, name it and pick a mode. See [Creating a booking service](/docs/online-booking/creating-a-service).
2. Fill in the price, length and location, and decide what the client must do before it's confirmed: pay, sign a contract, answer a questionnaire.
3. Set your bookable hours under **Bookings → Settings → Availability**. See [Setting your availability](/docs/online-booking/setting-your-availability).
4. Connect Google Calendar under **Integrations** so your busy times stay off the page. See [Connecting Google Calendar](/docs/online-booking/google-calendar).
5. Choose **Publish** at the top of the service.
6. Turn on **Public booking page** under **Bookings → Settings → Booking page**, then share the link. See [Sharing your booking page](/docs/online-booking/sharing-your-booking-page).

> **Two switches, not one**
A published service only shows once your booking page is turned on too. The page starts switched off, so you can get everything ready before anyone sees it.

## What a booking can ask for

A direct booking or mini session can require any of these before it counts as confirmed:

- **Payment**, in full or as a deposit
- **A signed contract**
- **A completed questionnaire**

Your client does all of it inside the booking, so what lands in your calendar is finished. Anything still outstanding leaves the booking pending. See [Adding a contract and questionnaire to booking](/docs/online-booking/contracts-and-questionnaires-in-booking) and [Pricing, deposits and payment deadlines](/docs/online-booking/pricing-and-deposits).

Inquiry services can include a questionnaire, but skip payment and contracts, because nothing is booked yet. The money and paperwork come later, in a proposal or a booking you create once you've agreed the details.

## What your client sees

Your booking page lives at `yourname.corehue.co/services`. It shows a card for each published service with its cover image, name, length and price. Choosing one takes your client straight into booking it, with no account to create. They finish on their own booking page, which holds the date, location, documents, payments and a link to add it to their calendar.

The page uses your logo and the look you've chosen under **Client pages**. See [What your client sees when they book](/docs/online-booking/what-clients-see-when-booking).

## Frequently asked questions

### Do my clients need an account to book?

No. Clients don't need an account to book with CoreHue. They open your link, pick a service and fill in their details, and CoreHue creates the contact for you.

### Can I take deposits when clients book online?

Yes. Turn on **Collect payment** on a direct booking or mini session service and choose **Deposit** or **Full payment**. Clients can pay by card through Stripe or by a manual method like bank transfer.

### Can clients see my calendar?

No. Clients only see the times you're free to book on your booking page, worked out from your availability, your existing bookings and your connected Google Calendar. Event names and details stay private.

### Why is my booking page empty?

Usually because no service is published yet or the booking page is still switched off. See [Available times aren't showing on my booking page](/docs/troubleshooting/booking-times-not-showing) for the full checklist.